ABSTRACT
The National Health Service (NHS) took over all hospitals, convalescent homes and rehabilitation units, offering consultants contracts as full-time salaried employees. The Health Service Commissioner undertakes independent investigation into complaints about the NHS, as well as Government departments and other public bodies. The 1982 reorganisation aimed to simplify the health service and deliver greater efficiency and accountability of the service to Parliament. Primary care trusts run primary and community services on a local basis and commission secondary care, and are considered to be the 'cornerstone' of the NHS locally. The National Patient Safety Agency has taken over from the national body, namely the National Clinical Assessment Agency, set up in 2001. Public health is concerned with improving the population's health, rather than with treating the diseases of individual patients. The chapter endeavours to reflect the complexities and the wide range of developments that have taken place since the NHS first came into being in 1948.
